Mark J. Warshawsky is Director of Retirement Research at Towers Watson.

Dr. Warshawsky served as assistant secretary for economic policy at the U.S. Treasury Department from 2004-2006 and he has held senior level economic research positions at the Federal Reserve Board, the Internal Revenue Service and TIAA-CREF.

The world is filled with investing indexes and benchmarks, and all professional investment managers measure their results relative to some type of performance standard such as the S&P 500.

On the retirement income front, though, similar gauges of performance are virtually non-existent.  The lack of a baseline performance measure is a problem for the industry because there is no established basis for comparison of asset decumulation strategies.

A recent paper sponsored by the Society of actuaries provides an impressive and comprehensive review of retirement income-related research. 

The paper, titled Research and Reality – A Literature Review on Drawing Down Retirement Financial Savings, can be accessed by clicking here. 

Anyone thinking about retirement income should pick-up a copy of Retirement Portfolios by Michael Zwecher.  This recommendation applies to both financial services professionals and consumers who are approaching or at retirement. 

Zwecher’s book is the definitive guide to constructing and maintaining portfolios that generate sustainable retirement income.  

It appears that people who have access to the pension-like, guaranteed lifetime income that comes from annuities might be happier in retirement.

The empirical basis for this possible correlation between annuities and retirement satisfaction is in a working paper by Constantijn W.A. Panis, Ph.D.   This working paper evolved into a chapter of the book Pension Design and Structure:  New Lessons from Behavioral Finance, Olivia S. Mitchell and Stephen P. Utkus.

Jody Strakosch is the National Director for MetLife’s Retirement Products Group.  In this role, Jody has a broad perspective on developments in the institutional space.  In other words, Jody is intimately familiar with how in-plan accumulation and point of retirement annuities are evolving in the defined contribution arena. 

The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College recently published a research brief that analyzes the impact of annuitization on retirement security.

Veritat is a start-up seeking to leverage process and technology innovation to scale a business model that is typically saddled with persistent and burdensome variable costs.  If successful, Veritat will be able to deliver premium services to a mass audience.

As a registered investment advisor (RIA) that adheres to the fiduciary standard, Veritat provides comprehensive financial planning services through financial advisors who are employed by the company and share a common sense of mission.

British lawmakers are considering an end to the law that requires many U.K. retirees to purchase an annuity by the time they turn age 75.

As an interim step, the U.K Chancellor modified the current law so that the age for compulsory annuitization is increased to 77 from the current level of 75 years of age.

A recent article in Bloomberg discusses the financial challenges faced by most retirees in the United States and the steps that the Obama Administration is taking to address the crisis.

The demise of defined benefit pension plans over the past thirty years correlates almost perfectly with the rise of defined contribution plans such as 401ks.